Mall Open for Inauguration, with Big-Screens

The entire length of the National Mall will be open to the public during President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration in January, Obama’s Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced this morning, with large TV screens set up along the Mall to give those in attendance a view of Obama’s swearing in.

The committee claims this will be the first time in history that the whole Mall will be open during an inauguration.

“We’re grateful to local, federal, and military officials for their efforts to open up the National Mall to Americans who want to participate in this historic occasion. These arrangements represent our committee’s continuing commitment to make next year’s historic inauguration as accessible as possible to citizens in Washington, D.C., and across the country,” PIC Executive Director Emmett S. Beliveau said this morning in the committee’s announcement.

The committee says it has worked closely with officials from the D.C. government, the National Park Service, the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

“This will be an Inauguration for all Americans,” D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said. “And so we are dedicated to opening it up so that people from across the country can gather together in America’s front yard. We remain hard at work to ensure the day’s festivities are safe and accessible for visitors, residents, and businesses alike.”

The committee says it made the decision to open the Mall “in keeping with its pledge to make the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama one of the most open and accessible in history,” hoping to accommodate the massive influx of inaugural visitors that is expected to arrive in DC for Obama’s January 20 swearing in.

The National Mall has typically been used as a staging ground for inaugural parades, the committee said. “But in response to early indications that more Americans than usual may travel to Washington to join in celebration of our shared values and common purpose, officials have worked tirelessly in recent weeks to relocate the parade staging area,” the committee stated in its release.